Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, March 3

Abilene Christian at Stephen F Austin, 9:00 PM Eastern, espn+

For the final time as members of the Southland conference (with both of these schools slated to move to the WAC next season), Abilene Christian is travelling to Stephen F Austin tonight with the Wildcats looking for their first eve way in Nacogdoches and their first ever season sweep of the Lumberjacks.  The game also will have huge ramifications on the battle for the top two seeds in the Southland tournament (those two teams getting a bye to the semifinals) and the quest for the regular season championship.

Abilene Christian enters play tonight at 11-2 in SLC play and 19-4 overall.  They are part of a four-way tie in the loss column atop the Southland standings with SFA, Sam Houston State and Nicholls State, though first place could have been theirs outright but for an upset loss last time out at Central Arkansas.  Kolton Kohl, Joe Pleasant and Coryon Mason are all averaging double figures in scoring for the Wildcats.  Kohl led the way with 20 points in ACU’s 82-62 win over SFA back on January 27.

Stephen F Austin currently sits at 12-2 in Southland play and 15-4 overall.  The Lumberjacks, who are ineligible for the Southland and NCAA tournaments due to an APR ban, could also have been in first place on their own but for an upset loss over this past weekend at Lamar, though they did bounce back Monday night to win at Central Arkansas.  Gavin Kensmil leads the way for SFA averaging team highs in points (15.7) and rebounds (7.3) per game.  Cameron Johnson, Roti Ware and David Kachelries are all double-digit scorers as well.  Johnson had the best game for the Lumberjacks when these two teams last met, scoring 13 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.  He and his teammates will need to be even better tonight if they want to claim at least a share of the Southland regular season title in their final year in the conference.